Geography Optional · Paper II · Geography of India
Contemporary Issues Notes · PYQs · Solved Answers
Free notes, every previous year question and the solved answers for Contemporary Issues (Paper II, Geography of India), arranged so you can read a topic and immediately see how UPSC has asked it. Syllabus: Ecological issues, hazards, poverty and unemployment, globalisation, regional disparities in development.
45
Solved PYQs
2013–2026
Years covered
81
Questions listed
11
Free notes
On this page
Free notes Previous year questions Solved answers All Geography Optional units
Paper II · Unit 10
Contemporary Issues notes
Topic-wise notes for this unit in syllabus order. Read a topic, then open its previous year questions below.
Free notes
-
Concept of Sustainable Growth and Development
-
Disinvestment and Privatisation in India – UPSC
-
Drought: Types, Causes & Consequences of Drought – UPSC Notes
-
Environmental Awareness – UPSC
-
Floods: Causes, Impact & Measures – UPSC
-
Globalisation and the Indian Economy
-
Landslide: Types, Causes, Impact & Remedial steps
-
Liberalisation, Privatisation, and Globalisation – UPSC
-
Problems of Agrarian and Industrial unrest – UPSC
-
Public Sector Reforms in India – UPSC
-
Regional Disparities in Economic Development
Free practice
Previous year questions: Contemporary Issues
Every question UPSC has asked from this unit, year-wise, with a link to its solved answer.
Topic-wise question list
Year-wise question papers
-
UPSC Geography Optional Question Paper 2019
-
UPSC Mains 2026: Geography Optional Topic-wise Questions {Paper I and Paper II}
-
UPSC Geography Optional Question Paper 2026
-
UPSC Geography Optional Question Paper 2025
-
UPSC Geography Optional Question Paper 2024
-
UPSC Geography Optional Question Paper 2023
-
UPSC Geography Optional Question Paper 2022
-
UPSC Geography Optional Question Paper 2021
-
UPSC Geography Optional Question Paper 2020
300+ Score Pack
Solved PYQ answers: Contemporary Issues
Model answers written the way a 300+ scorer writes them, newest exam year first. Members open the full answer; everyone else sees the question and can join the pack.
PYQ Solutions
-
Disaster risk reduction and community resilience are the two pillars that need to be prioritized in the flood prone areas of India. Critically analyse.
-
Why is it difficult to improve the quality of air during the winter season in the Gangetic plain? Critically evaluate with suitable examples.
-
Critically examine the strategic, economic and ecological impacts of the proposed ‘Great Nicobar Project’.
-
Describe the causes of the phenomenon of ‘urban heat island’. What are the effective measures to deal with this phenomenon in India ?
-
What are the causes and consequences of land degradation due to desertification in India ? Examine with reference to various regional issues.
-
While defining the green architecture, discuss its principles and challenges in response to climate change in India.
-
Health is the outcome of interaction between physical setting, cultural traits and ecological connection. Explain.
-
Examine the environmental challenges caused by the solid waste in metropolitan regions of India and discuss the efforts to overcome it.
-
Discuss the problems of floods and their management with special reference to Indo-Gangetic Plain.
-
Why has extreme particulate pollution remained a festering issue in Delhi NCR region ?
-
The process of desertification leads to soil desiccation and soil loss. Explain.
-
Groundwater contamination in the fast expanding urban landscape of India appears to have become a major public health issue. Discuss.
-
Evaluate the role of the National Food Security Act, 2013 in providing access of food to the poor in India.
-
Landslide is a major problem in Himalayan region. Discuss its causes and mitigation measures.
-
Appraise why drought is one of the most common climatic extremes in India.
-
Discuss the ecological and economic challenges of river linking in India.
-
Discuss the methods of crop residue management in rural India to reduce pollution.
-
Stunting and wasting among children are major consequences of food insecurity. Discuss various schemes of Government of India to address these problems and their achievements.
-
Digital Divide in India needs quick redressal to reduce regional disparity in development. Elaborate with suitable examples.
-
Avalanche is a major hazard in the Himalayas. What are its causes and mitigation measures ?
-
Demarcating the seismic zones of India, suggest suitable interventions required in most sensitive seismic zones for sustainable human settlements.
-
Examine the problems of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) in India.
-
“Intrabasins linkages of rivers are more feasible economically, socially and ecologically”. Discuss with suitable examples from India.
-
Give a reasoned account of high level of pollution in North Indian cities as compared to South Indian cities.
-
Describe the altitudinal and spatial geo-environmental hazards in the Himalayas.
-
Explain the changing river courses and their impacts on the riparian population in India with suitable examples.
-
Make a critical appraisal of the factors affecting river water quality in India.
-
Describe the socio-spatial consequences of the recent Nipah viral encephalitis in India.
-
Farmers’ suicide is one of the major agrarian problems in India. Bring out its causes and suggest the remedial measures with special reference to Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab.
-
Interlinking of rivers may serve as a major source of assured irrigation and all-weather inland navigation in India. Comment on its feasibility taking into account physical, economic and ecological implication.
-
What do you understand by soil pollution? Delineate the areas vulnerable to it in India and suggest remedial measures.
-
Describe the flood-prone areas and their management problems in the Ganga Plains.
-
Examine the causes of regional disparities in economic development in India.
-
Explain the impact of economic development on environmental degradation in India.
-
Account for the growing frequency and intensity of floods in India, and suggest short- and long-term remedial measures indicating the chronically flood-prone areas.
-
How does climate change affect the process of desertification of India?
-
Explain how change in land use can promote eco-development at different levels in the country.
-
Suggest the measures of wild-life conservation with reference to extinction of rare species.
-
Explain the concept of ‘Make in India’ and indicate the essential inputs for its success.
-
Differentiate between the ‘intensity’ and ‘magnitude’ of an earthquake and explain its varying impact in different parts of India.
-
How has an inappropriate urban land use policy accounted for undesirable development in and around metropolitan cities ?
-
Comment on the feasibility of interlinking of rivers of India and its possible contribution to resolution of water crisis.
-
Snags in the Food Security Policy of India
-
Describe how urbanization creates air and water pollution in India.
-
Identify the earthquake-prone zones and suggest strategy for their management.
Premium content · how to get access
This page is part of the Geography Optional 300+ Score Pack.
Everything below — the solved answers, the unit-wise pattern reports and the diagrams drawn inside the answers — opens with one enrolment. One-time payment, no subscription, access from the moment your payment is confirmed.
- 820 solved PYQ model answers (2013–2026) — every unit, Paper I and Paper II
- 20 PYQ pattern & strategy reports — one per syllabus unit
- 500 days of access from your enrolment date, on phone, laptop or tablet
Full pack
₹1,770 ₹2,500 29% off
One-time payment · instant access · UPI, cards, RuPay
